Jacobs Ladder Footbridge, Reinstatement of a lost link

Completion of Jacobs Ladder Footbridge addressed a commitment made to the local St Mary’s Bay community in Auckland, New Zealand by the New Zealand Transport Agency, to re-establish through collaborative stakeholder consultation, the direct pedestrian access to Westhaven marina and the Waitemata harbour foreshore. Access was interrupted for over 50 years as a result of construction of the southern approaches of State Highway 1 (SH1) to the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

Structurally the footbridge is a multifaceted continuous steel structure approximately 103m in length incorporating a fully enclosed envelope providing safe and reliable access over 12 lanes of motorway traffic. Aesthetically the urban design brief for the footbridge required a low form sympathetic to its residential neighbourhood context while forming a dramatic but subtle gateway into the city from the north.

It was important that the final design did not present a distraction to motorists on the busy multiple lane section of the motorway and did not compete with overhead signs requiring lane changes and driver concentration.